My 5 year old has sort of got it this year and my 3.5 typical child hasn't, don't worry its only one day. Im afraid that my 5 yr old once He gets it might always believe so I don't push it too much if that makes sense

You know as an experience and memory that worked for us this year was the horse merry-go-round in chq Dublin. It was our Santa! Kids adored it. Now they are excited about prep for Santa and if continue to be good get pressies etc from him but meeting bearded Santa,just scary.

my sn dd 5 year old kinda gets it a bit this year we did a visual Xmas list just keep talking to her about it and showing the pictures she doesn't have a lot of speech she gets all excited and says me me me

I rem when my child was younger buying loads of musical toys with christmas songs on them (eg. from M&S for Christmas....and I rem at one and half to two....he would just bang on them, I used to sing all the Christmas songs like Santa Claus coming to Town, 12 days of Christmas, Jingle Bell and Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer.... and over emphasis certain parts of the songs etc....which he loved and to this day still loves them and he tries to sing along with me even though he has oral dyspraxia.

We used to go to the Dublin Market at the Docks and he loved the Helter Skelter slide and the Carnival ride (not sure if it is still there). He went to his first panto at nearly sixteen with his new school (enjoyed the first hour).....some achievement...

I rem wishing he could watch the Toy Show and be able to open presents etc etc but over the years we found other things to enjoy like many others do....whether going to tree farms and putting him on the quad bike which collects the tree....or for a walk in the local woods/seafront during Christmas day. We have even sat in the kids section of the church (with him watching and listening to DVD's /ipads with earphones etc,,,,,

There is some much pressure on everyone in some shape or form to have a great time over Christmas.... things will change over the years....

My small boy , just 3 and on the ASD spectrum , non verbal and also totally unaware of Christmas I'm hoping next year will be better , all we can do as parents is to do our very best to bring them on pray and hope to god that he is listening

I hope you can all have a nice family day together even if your LOs don't realise the significance of the day or understand the bits that we all assume our children will get excited about.

I just wanted to share that my SIL has some special needs and when she was small my DH's family didn't even think she would ever be able to talk or walk so the concepts of Christmas were way beyond her for a long time. But she's a walking talking miracle and now at forty she still buys into the magic of Christmas and Santa and is so excited to spend time with family who visit and have time off work and she really makes the festive period special for everyone, seeing the enjoyment she gets out of it.

I know things haven't turned out the way you probably assumed they would for your family, but try to make the most of the bits that you can and hopefully your LOs will all make the amazing progress my SIL has and you will have many happy Christmasses to come.

I could have written this post myself we are in the exact same boat with our wee man he's 3.5 yrs aswell with severe speech delay an totally oblivious to santa.... it's truly heartbreaking :-( he loves listening to songs so i play jingle bells an frosty the snowman for him an he loves that so that brings us joy x

Thanks ladies, I will enjoy Christmas and appreciate what I have and how far he has come from this time last year but it just makes me think how far we have yet to go and I feel sad for him that he can see all these things going on but just doesn't understand. It breaks my heart

yes I'm also in the same boat. Christmas tree is up and presents got but my little boy who's almost 3 doesn't have a clue. Last year I thought this year would be the year but it's not to be.

It is a bit sad. I think my daughter who's 15 is the most dismayed as she was really looking forward to her little brother getting all exited. But I have to be grateful for my family and the progresses we've made this year. I do shed a little tear over the occasions though.